Comment from Calum, WLN Editor
John Muir once wrote that “few are
altogether deaf to the preaching of
pine trees. Their sermons on the
mountains go to our hearts; and if
people in general could be got into
the woods, even for once, to hear
the trees speak for themselves, all
difficulties in the way of forest
preservation would vanish”. In this
issue, we look in detail at the Glen
Affric area, one of the best places in
Scotland for people to get into
native pine woodland and
appreciate the importance of its
preservation. The work of the
Forestry Commission and
conservation charity Trees for Life in
maintaining and restoring these
woods is well known and widely
appreciated – the Glen is one of the
most visited and scenic in the
country, offering a dramatic glimpse
of the Caledonian forest which was
once so much more widespread.
Whether or not those who visit are
as receptive to the preaching of pine
trees as John Muir was, they can
hardly fail to come away with a
greater appreciation of Scotland’s
natural environments and the
careful management of those that
remain.
That this is possible is largely thanks
to the ongoing efforts of the
Forestry Commission, which are
detailed here by District Manager
David Jardine. Since Wild Land
News last ran an article on Glen
Affric in the autumn of 2004, many
changes have been made to the
methods and objectives of the
Commission’s work there, and David
provides a timely update on the
implications of these. We also hear
from the people behind the plans,
as members of the large team
responsible for managing Glen Affric
4

tell us what the place means to
them.
Next-door to Glen Affric is the estate
of Dundreggan, bought by Trees for
Life in 2008 and now the site of a
long-term project of ecological
restoration. Little known or visited
in comparison to its more
mountainous and alluring
neighbour, the former sporting
estate boasts some of the most
diverse and impressive habitats in
Scotland, with a number of very rare
species located in and around
fragments of ancient semi-natural
woodland. Trees for Life has been
hard at work here (and in Glen
Affric), and Alan Watson
Featherstone, the charity’s director,
writes in this issue about the nature
and potential of the estate, and
some worrying developments in its
vicinity.
Nearby, new plans for the
Cairngorms National Park are also a
cause for concern. The Scottish
Wild Land Group has joined a
campaign for changes to the
recently adopted Local Plan of the
National Park Authority, which
allows for large scale development
in the park, including an entire ‘new
town’ across the River Spey from
Aviemore. We believe this to be a
dangerous and wholly unjustified
project within the borders of a
National Park, and Tim Ambrose,
SWLG treasurer, starts this issue
with an update on the campaign and
our role in it.
Controversies of this kind are often
wrongly interpreted as attempts by
remote conservation groups to
curtail the development of local
communities. In fact, the rights and

wishes of local people tend to
remain undetermined and
unaccounted for. One of the most
significant moves of recent years
towards empowerment of local
communities was the 2003
Community Right to Buy provision of
the Land Reform (Scotland) Act.
Calum Macleod of the University of
the Highlands and Islands considers
the effects of this, and draws some
important and challenging
conclusions, suggesting that
bureaucracy has fettered the
practical potential of the act.
Roderick Manson relates a tale of
direct action unencumbered by such
burdens, in which the late Irvine
Butterfield helped to restore a bothy
at Dibidil on the Isle of Rum. Having
travelled to Rum to erect a
memorial to Irvine, Roderick was
inspired to re-publish the book
Irvine wrote about the project,
‘Dibidil – a Hebridean Adventure’,
which had been out of print for
several decades. Now available, it
should make a fascinating and
enjoyable read.

Many of us take great pleasure in
Scotland’s wild land, and George
Charles gives us his personal view of
its benefits. He also considers some
different opinions on this subject,
and argues that there is room for
many perspectives on the value of
wild land. Deriving satisfaction and
solace from the mountains around
Mar Lodge himself, George suggests
that common interests should
override petty disagreements.
Finally, writer and outdoor
equipment tester Phil Turner
provides this edition’s ‘My Wild
Land’, giving his perspective on the
whys and wherefores of wild land
exploration. Responses would be
welcome (particularly from readers
in Cumbernauld) as would articles,
opinions and assistance in the
production of Wild Land News or
work of the SWLG, as ever. We
hope you enjoy this autumn issue.

SWLG Annual General Meeting
The Scottish Wild Land Group will be holding its AGM on
Saturday the 12th of November at the Royal Hotel in
Bridge of Allan at 2.30pm.
Please make a note of the date and come along to meet
the steering team and other members, comment on the
group’s activities, and to get involved. We rely on your
support and the AGM is a real chance to influence the
work of the SWLG. See you there!

5

C O NS E R VA T IO N

Tim Ambrose

SWLG supports an appeal against
National Park approval for a new town in
the Cairngorms

The Scottish Wild Land Group has
resolved to contribute £1,000
towards the (potentially very
substantial) legal costs of an Appeal
submitted jointly by The Cairngorms
Campaign, Badenoch and Strathspey
Conservation Group and the Scottish
Campaign for National Parks against
the Local Plan adopted by the
Cairngorms National Park Authority
(CNPA).

Huge new
housing estates
in the
Cairngorms
would seriously
reduce the
wildness of the
Cairngorms and
their adjacent
areas, and set a
disastrous
precedent for
further
unsustainable
developments in
Scotland’s
wildest
mountains

6

To summarise a very long and
detailed story which has much
longer still to run, since the
establishment of the National Park
in 2003, the CNPA is effectively the
ultimate planning authority for the
Cairngorms National Park. For
several years it has been preparing
its Local Plan which sets out the
detailed planning policies against
which all planning applications in
the area of the National Park will be
judged. In October 2010, the CNPA
formally adopted its final version of
the Local Plan.
This includes much which is
creditable and worthwhile, but
crucially for the wild land interest it
also includes approval for very
substantial housing developments
on woodland, agricultural land and
undeveloped land which we believe
are completely inappropriate for a

National Park. The most
objectionable approval is for an
entire new town of up to 1500
houses, with ancilliary commercial
and community buildings, just on
the other side of the River Spey
from Aviemore. This new town is
proposed to be named “An Camus
Mor”, which the CNPA and
developers must hope is less
obvious than “Aviemore New Town”
or “Aviemore 2”.
The Local Plan also includes
approval for 40 more houses in
Nethy Bridge on a site of old
woodland, approval for up to 117
new houses in Carrbridge, and 300
houses in Kingussie. In each of
these cases, the proposed
developments would be completely
out of scale with the existing
settlements, and would have very
serious adverse impacts on the
wildlife of Speyside - including red
squirrels, capercaillie, and numerous
less obvious species. Such huge
new housing estates in the
Cairngorms (and in a National Park)
would seriously reduce the wildness
of the Cairngorms and their
adjacent areas, and set a disastrous
precedent for further unsuitable
developments in Scotland’s wildest
mountains.

The CNPA is obliged to implement,
in a co-ordinated way, the four
statutory aims set out in the
National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000.
These include:
“a) to conserve and enhance the
natural and cultural heritage of the
area, and …
d) to promote sustainable economic
and social development of the
area’s communities”,
with the very important proviso that
if there is conflict between the first
aim and any other, then the CNPA
must give greater weight to the first
aim – i.e. to conserve and enhance
the natural heritage of the area.
How the CNPA considers that
building a New Town in the middle
of Speyside amounts to sustainable
development is beyond us (surely
“sustainable” means that you can
keep on doing the same thing year
after year without permanent
damage – how can a huge one-off
building project on a greenfield site
possibly be sustainable?).
Regardless of this, a New Town with
thousands of houses, roads and
other buildings, and thousands of
inhabitants and their cars, is clearly
damaging to the natural heritage of
the countryside in which it is built.
As part of the process leading to the
Local Plan, there was an Inquiry
conducted by two Reporters
appointed by the Scottish
Government who considered all the
arguments on both sides, and made
their recommendations. In relation

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to An Camus Mor, they considered
all the evidence, including
population projections, and
concluded:
“we cannot endorse the proposal
for a new settlement at An Camus
Mor”.
Similarly, in relation to the
substantial housing estates
proposed at Carrbridge, Nethy
Bridge and Kingussie, the Reporters
recommended either suspension or
great scaling down. The CNPA has
decided to over-ride all these
recommendations.
We believe the CNPA is seriously
wrong, and acting completely
unreasonably. The very body
specifically set up to conserve the
Cairngorms is pushing for large scale
developments which will inflict
serious and permanent damage to
the wildlife and scenery of the area.
A formal Appeal against these
aspects of the CNPA Local Plan has
been lodged in the Court of Session,
and if no satisfactory resolution can
be reached, it is likely that a formal
hearing of the Case will be held in
due course.
The SWLG considers this case is very
important for Scotland’s wild land,
and is pleased to offer its support.

If you would like further information
on this case, or to offer support,
please contact Tim Ambrose at:
timambrose1954@hotmail.com

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7

C O NS E R VA T IO N

David Jardine

GLEN AFFRIC— a living link with an
ancient past
David Jardine is the
Forestry Commission
District Manager for
Inverness, Ross and
Skye

In autumn 2004, an article for Wild
Land News on the Glen Affric area
was provided by Malcolm Wield, the
then Manager of Forest Augustus
Forest District. In true wild land,
seven years can be a very short
time, with imperceptible changes
occurring in the landscape.
However, when wild land is being
restored there can be significant
changes during that time. In this
article the Forestry Commission
Scotland (FCS) team, who are the
current stewards of Glen Affric,
provide an update of ‘our wild land’
– managing a large area of land is a
team effort.
I first visited Glen Affric as a student
in the late 1970s, when we were
taken round by Finlay Macrae. This
visit enthused me, and to become
involved in its management through
the FCS reorganisation was a
privilege. While I had visited since
then, it was interesting to review
how much the Glen has changed in
the recent decades; the change in
forest structure from young birches
and old granny pines is clearly seen.
You only have to re-watch the Tom
Weir programme (which is available
online, see below), when he was
taken round by Finlay Macrae in the
snow to see how much has changed.
‘The trees have come and gone
through the ages, but the forest still
remains’
So what has changed in the seven
years since the last WLN article on
Glen Affric?
Forest Plan: A new Forest Plan has

8

recently been developed and
approved. This has drawn on the
latest GIS technology using the
BEETLE (Biological and
Environmental Evaluation Tools for
Landscape Ecology) software which
has helped foresters understand the
development of the forest and
woodland networks within Glen
Affric, and the opportunities for
further restoration.
Vegetation change: working with
natural processes in the Highlands
takes an amount of time which
causes frustration in humans (and
foresters especially!). Photomonitoring started in 1998 is now
starting to record changes. Survey
data from the same period also
records positive change, with new
surveys showing vegetation change
and recruitment of trees. For
example, Barrach wood, near
Cougie, is regenerating and
spreading itself outwards. Birch is
moving fastest (as you would
expect) and the pine is coming along
slowly behind. FCS is replanting
native Scots Pine alongside this
area, where Lodgepole Pine has
already been cleared. There are few
seed sources further up the hill and
this planting will link with native
woodlands established by our
neighbours.
But are we expecting too much from
pine in Glen Affric? Everyone looks
to Strathspey and Deeside and
hopes for an explosion of pine
seedlings. But things are different in
Affric (soil, moisture, temperature)
and so we should expect a different
reaction. Experience in the Black

Photos: Glen Affric and orientation
boards at the River Affric
D. Jardine

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9

C O NS E R VA T IO N

Wood at Rannoch shows slower
pine recruitment, and in the west
the species will be less prevalent.

Conservation
enthusiasts
can continue
to play an
important role
by removing
the last few
non-native
trees as they
are out
enjoying wild
land

The seed source is expanding,
however. Fenced enclosures in the
western end of Affric (mostly birch)
are coming of age and seed
production is increasing fast. Birch
can produce anything up to 17
million seeds per tree every 2 years
(depending on age and size), so
further expansion is likely. Birds are
also proving to be really effective at
moving rowan around naturally, and
these seedlings are establishing
well. The slower species to move in,
such as hazel, elm, ash and aspen,
may require further help.
Non-native removal: progress
continues to be made with
clearance of Sitka Spruce and
Lodgepole Pine (this is not quite the
Forth Bridge as every trip provides
further gains and eventually the job
will be done, but at times it does
seem similar!). The contribution of
Trees for Life (TfL) volunteers over
the last 20 years has been very
significant in terms of non-native
clearance and is becoming
increasingly so as there is a law of
diminishing returns in seeking out
the last few spruce, which becomes
prohibitively expensive. This is
where conservation enthusiasts can
continue to play an important role
by removing the last few as they are
out enjoying wild land.
There is now an expectation that
native woodlands will contribute
timber to the local economy. Birch
and pine are both very useful
timbers and fuel wood has found a
new level of importance in both
local and national communities.
Management in native woodlands
will create rotational diversity within
woodland habitats.
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Caledonian forest is made up
of much more than treesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

1 0

Large parts of Glen Affric are
covered by European conservation
designations, and site condition
monitoring is providing information
on key species and habitats. Since
Malcolm Wieldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s article the
importance of parts of the high
ground in Glen Affric for Golden
Eagle have also been recognised in
the designation of a Special
Protection Area.
The recent Wildcat sightings are
really exciting. The Highland tiger
has a safe place in Affric, as does the
Red Squirrel, which is now
benefiting from decades of
woodland regeneration. Woodland
expansion has also allowed Black
Grouse to move slowly westwards.
Unfortunately the news of
Capercaillie is not so good, but its
possible extinction from Affric is still
an important marker in the story of
the glen. Surveys by TfL have also
produced a list of interesting and
rare insects.
Deer: low deer numbers are the key
to successful woodland habitats,
although deer are also an essential
component of natural woodlands.
However, both historic and modern
population sampling show that deer
populations are unfortunately high
(as much as 25 deer/100 ha in some
locations) and the effects of that are
now incontrovertible. We know we
have the seed production and that
these can get a foothold if given a
chance, so culling is an important
tool to reduce deer numbers and
keep a balance in the habitat.
Fences are also useful, but must be
used thoughtfully so as to reduce
landscape and access impacts. They
are also expensive to erect and
maintain. Neither is it enough to
establish a woodland and then allow
the deer population to soar again, as
this prevents the continued cycle of
regeneration and expansion.
Dendrochronology confirms that the
intensity of sheep and deer farming

in the nineteenth century effectively
created a recruitment gap for Scots
pine in the Glen between 1860 and
1945, so deer management will
remain an important tool in the
management of the woodland
areas.

Experience Plan. This work has also
helped to provide off-site
interpretation for visitors, including
those from overseas, before they
come to the Glen (see http://
www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD89YFBY).

Open habitats: the importance of
open land habitats has become
more evident over the last 20 years,
and we are still learning what this
means for Affric in terms of
monitoring and management.
Again, collaborative deer
management is critical to protect
vulnerable soils from trampling
damage, to allow plant layers to
maintain a place in the sun, and for
scarce plants such as the Woolly
Willow to recover above the
woodland edge.

Everybody with a head for heights
should re-visit Plodda falls where
the old Victorian bridge which was
rusting away has now been replaced
by a modern viewpoint, which takes
you right over the top of the falls……
impressive! As well as car-park
upgrades, improvements are
underway to the toilet facilities to
ensure that something is available
through all four seasons of the year,
thus reducing fouling problems.

East meets west; Glen Affric links
the east and west coasts of
Scotland
A previously unrecorded fort or dun
discovered at Cannich points to the
importance of the location from a
very early time as a community on
the east-west route. Sensitive felling
around the Comar Dun, which has
been scheduled as an Ancient
Monument, should guard against
future damage to this important
site. Nowadays the Glen is used for
iconic cross-country events such as
the Highland Cross, which continues
to go from strength to strength.
During the last 12 months renewed
interpretation has been provided at
the visitor sites in Glen Affric
following work on a Visitor

Looking to the future, what might
we face? Climate change and new
pests and diseases are becoming an
increasing concern to Scottish
foresters, with Red Band Needle
Blight and the Pine Lappet Moths
emerging as potential threats. It is
hoped that the new Forest Plan,
which is based on native species,
will be robust to such threats, but
everyone will have to play their part
in helping to mitigate the effects of
changing climate. Other threats
such as invasive species (e.g.
Rhododendron, Sika Deer, or Wild
Boar) are all things which might
have to be faced. Whatever comes,
we should all rest assured that the
forest at Glen Affric has one of the
longest histories of continuous
forest cover – it has been around for
a long time and under the FCS
stewardship, hopefully it’s here to
stay!

The intensity
of sheep and
deer farming
in the 19th
Century
effectively
created a
recruitment
gap for Scots
pine in the
Glen between
1860 and 1945

FCS wishes to acknowledge the support it has received from all of its partners
in Glen Affric, including Scottish Natural Heritage and Trees for Life. Staff who
have made a significant input to Glen Affric and its restoration during the last
seven years include: Keith Black, Giles Brockman, Russell Cooper, Isabelle Destor, Jeff Dymond, Stuart Finlay, Rae Grant, Iain Inglis, Ken Knott, Willie Lamont,
Jack Mackay, Neil McAdams, Neil McFarlane, Ross Macaulay, Guy Pembroke,
Sandra Reid, Steve Smith, Alastair Smyth, and Malcolm Wield. On the next two
pages they give some of their views on what ‘Glen Affric means to them’...
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the sheer delight the area gives, not
to mention that it is recognized as
one of the most complex Forestry
Commission landholdings in
Scotland due to its size, its ecological
diversity and the array of
designations. GP

Photo: D Jardine

To be part of a
team whose
goal has been
to preserve
and enhance
this wilderness
has been a
privilege

1 2

As one of the last remaining areas of
real wilderness in the UK, Glen Affric
has the capacity to absorb large
numbers of visitors, yet each and
every one can feel a sense of
freedom and escape in this iconic
Glen that inspires awe and wonder.
JM
In the working day or in my own
private capacity, I walk cycle or drive
through the glen and see a
mountain of problems,
maintenance, and jobs that need
done. When I meet the public I see
them as customers who need to be
looked after and at the same time
informally educated and steered in
the "right" way to behave. On the
occasions when I stop and think
about the place, I look at why people
are there; they come for the
wilderness experience, to be in awe
of the natural beauty. Then my
cynical head comes back and I start
to think about the fact that it isn't
natural and if it wasn't for man,
sheep and deer then it would be very
different place. AS
I thoroughly enjoyed being part of
the team that tackled the 2010
forest design plan for the wider
Affric area. The level of interest both
within the Forest District as well as
from statutory organisations, NGOs
and the local community was
outstanding. Perhaps this
enthusiasm is not surprising given

Glen Affric is one of the most
important places in Scotland for
nature. It is well known that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an
exceptional area for native
pine woodland but there are a whole
host of rare species there as well.
Some of our rarest and most
beautiful plants occur here:
Highland Cudweed, Woolly Willow
and Small Cow-wheat on the alpine
crags with One-flowered
Wintergreen & Coral-root Orchid in
the woodlands. Its also home to rare
butterflies and moths including
Rannoch Sprawler, Goat Moth and
Welsh Clearwing. The latter two
burrow into ancient Birch trees, the
type of which you only find in a few
special glens. Some of my most
exciting and memorable days in the
field looking for nature have been
spent at Glen Affric. JW
I have the best job in the Forestry
Commission working in Glen
Affric! The chance to shape the
future structure of the forest in a
manner which picks up from the
work done previously, using all the
modern techniques developed since
then, to enhance and expand the
native forest to produce a truly multi
-purpose landscape gives me a
real feeling of satisfaction and
pride as a professional forester. KH
People say it is the most beautiful
glen in Scotland and of course there
are many others, but the pinewoods
in Affric add their special
grandeur to the scene. On my first
day at work in Glen Affric, Sandy
Walker drove me up on a beautiful
spring day. I couldn't believe my luck
in being allowed to work in such a
wonderful place; every corner we
turned had a stunning view with

pinewoods and snow topped
mountains reflected in the
lochs. There can be days when you
don't see anything and visitors ask
where the wildlife is, but then
again you could see your first live
adder (during a guided walk! I was
more excited than anyone), eagles,
otter (only once), badgers, black
grouse, pine marten, deer, an
amazing number of birds in
summer, dragonflies, beetles,
butterflies and flowers, to name just
a few. Only thing I've always
wondered - why no juniper? SR
I first saw Glen Affric in 1975 when I
arrived as a “loon” from South
Wales. I was inspired by its scale,
unique wildlife and spectacular
beauty. Having been touched by
forests and wildlife all my life, this
was truly a wilderness where I
immediately felt a connection to the
living past where your imagination
could take you anywhere. To be part

of a team whose goal has been to
preserve and enhance this
wilderness has been a privilege and
long may it continue JD
I spent a holiday during my teenage
years in Inverness – it was visits to
the forests at Reelig, Farigaig and
Glen Affric that sparked my love of
forests and trees and inspired me to
seek a career in forestry. I have been
lucky in that I have been involved
with Glen Affric at various stages of
my career, and each visit brings a
smile to my face, and satisfaction
that I have had a hand in its
management. My teenage years
saw a wild and remote and
apparently untouched wilderness –
with the extra years, and knowledge
and experience my eyes now see a
very different picture, richer, more
complex, but also more fascinating
and no less beautiful. SS

The video of Tom Weir’s visit to Glen Affric is available at:
http://video.stv.tv/bc/scotland-places-20080530-finlay-mcrae-the-districtsconservation-officer-takes-tom-deep-into-glen-affric/

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Photo, following
page: pine trees,
Dundreggan
K Brown

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Photo: C Brown

1 3

C O NS E R VA T IO N

1 6

Alan Watson Featherstone

Return of the wild at Dundreggan

Dundreggan is a 10,000 acre (4,000
hectare) estate in Glen Moriston,
west of Loch Ness in the Highlands,
which was purchased by the
conservation charity Trees for Life in
2008. Stretching from the River
Moriston in the valley bottom to a
high point of 680 metres on the
watershed divide between Glen
Moriston and Glen Affric to the
north, the estate contains a variety
of habitats, ranging from floodplain
woodland and remnants of the
native pinewoods of the Caledonian
Forest to extensive tracts of wet
heath, mire and bog in the north.
Although Dundreggan is situated
relatively close to the west coast,
the local topography results in the
estate receiving less rainfall than
surrounding areas, and this in turn
means that it is home to an unusual
combination of species that are
more normally considered either
principally western- or easternbased.
There are about 250 acres (100
hectares) of native woodland
currently on Dundreggan. The
majority is birchwood, although
other trees such as oak, aspen, Scots
pine, hazel, ash and wych elm are
present in smaller numbers. Of
particular note is the prolific
distribution of juniper (Juniperus
communis), a priority species for
conservation in the UK’s Biodiversity
Action Plan (BAP), which reaches
both a substantial height and
remarkable density in the
birchwood areas, and the
widespread abundance of dwarf

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birch (Betula nana) on the northern
half of the estate.

Alan Watson
Featherstone is the
founder and

Dundreggan is an important site for
biodiversity in the Highlands, and is
home to more than 50 species that
feature on the UK BAP list.
Prominent amongst those are black
grouse (Tetrao tetrix), pine marten
(Martes martes), lesser butterflyorchid (Platanthera bifolia) and the
lichen running-spider (Philodromus
margaritatus). Specialist surveys
have led to a number of important
discoveries on the estate, including
the presence of a sawfly (Nematus
pseudodispar) that had never been
recorded in the UK before, the
golden horsefly (Atylotus fulvus),
which had been seen just twice in
Scotland since 1923, and what may
be the largest Scottish population of
the spectacularly-coloured
strawberry spider (Araneus alsine).
Trees for Life has been involved in
practical work to help restore the
Caledonian Forest since 1989, with
our work being focussed in an area
of over 900 square miles (2,300
square kilometres) in the northcentral Highlands, west of Inverness
and Loch Ness. This area has a
remote, roadless and virtually
uninhabited mountainous core that
contains the highest peak north of
the Great Glen (Carn Eige) and some
of the best remnants of the
Caledonian Forest (Glen Affric, Glen
Strathfarrar). It offers one of the
best opportunities for restoring a
wild, natural large-scale landscape,
complete with its full range of

Photos: Top - These overgrazed birch seedlings
near the Red Burn on
Dundreggan have been
held in check by red deer.
Through an innovative
and integrated approach
to deer management,
they will be able to grow
successfully, enabling the
expansion of the existing
birchwood by natural
regeneration.
Bottomâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Naturallyregenerating Scots pine
seedling near the summit
of Binnilidh Bheag, and
view westwards over the
valley of the Red Burn on
Dundreggan
A W Featherstone

habitats and species, in the whole of
the UK. Dundreggan is a key site
within this area, providing the
potential to restore a natural habitat
corridor of woodland and scrub
connecting Glen Affric and Glen
Moriston, and linking up several of
the Caledonian Forest remnants.
Like much of the Highlands, many of
the ecosystems on Dundreggan
have been in a state of arrested
succession because of overgrazing,
mainly by red deer. Large numbers
of birch seedlings occur on the
upper margins of the existing
woodland, but are unable to grow
successfully because of grazing
pressure. Similarly, the later
successional stage tree species such
as oak, hazel, ash and wych elm are
not growing up in the existing open
birchwood, because all their

naturally-occurring seedlings are
eaten when only a few inches tall.
The same story applies on the open
ground on the estate, where all the
dwarf birch plants are suppressed
by grazing, and the natural
succession, on suitable sites, from
wet heath to dry heath, and from
dry heath to pioneer woodland of
birch and rowan, is being prevented.
A 300 hectare commercial
plantation of mainly non-native
conifers provides another challenge
for restoration.
Set in the context of a 50 year vision
for the estate, which envisions
native woodland and scrub covering
about 60% of the land, a detailed
management plan has been drawn
up, to promote woodland and other
habitat restoration. Although Trees
for Life aims to see natural
processes prevail again, as part of a
wild landscape, we recognise that
management intervention is
required in the short term, to help
return the land to ecological health
and balance. Key to this is reducing
the impact of grazing by deer, and
we are implementing an innovative
deer management plan that
combines several elements â&#x20AC;&#x201C;
reduction in deer numbers,
diversionary feeding and
disturbance of deer from critical
areas containing naturally occurring
tree seedlings when new growth is
taking place in spring â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to facilitate
regeneration of the birchwood
without fencing.
This is being complemented by
individual protection of seedlings
from the scarcer (and more
palatable) tree species, and the
establishment of some new areas of
native woodland through tree
planting. The latter is being carried
out by matching tree species to the
suitability of the vegetation
communities and soil types, and
utilising planting patterns that mimic
the density and distribution of

1 8

naturally-regenerating trees.
Specific projects are also focussing
on particular habitat types and key
species, such as dwarf birch scrub,
for which a series of fenced
exclosures for restoration are being
erected. Another project has
involved the planting of a large area
of aspen-dominated woodland in
the riparian zone beside the River
Moriston, to provide both a future
habitat for the rare invertebrates
and bryophytes that are dependent
on aspen, and also to complement
the aspens elsewhere on the river in
providing potential future habitat
for European beavers, if the current
trial project at Knapdale is deemed a
success and further sites are
considered for reintroductions.
In the birchwood itself, a fenced
area of 30 acres (12.1 hectares) is
home now to a group of wild boar,
which we are using to reduce the
prevalence of bracken (which
shades out forest floor plant species
and inhibits the growth of young
trees) and provide exposed soil to
facilitate tree regeneration. In doing
so, we are gaining the benefits of
one of the forest’s missing large
mammals, and are also restoring, on
a small scale, one of the absent
ecological processes – natural
disturbance. Restoration of the
conifer plantation, back to native
woodland and mire (in suitable
parts) will be a longer term process,
taking at least 10 years to complete.
Another important element of the
project is the removal of human
infrastructure wherever possible,
including the fences, as soon as they
are no longer required to facilitate
regeneration.

opportunity to enhance the wild
quality of the land there.
However, running directly contrary
to that are two major projects,
which represent the
‘industrialisation of the Highlands’.
The Beauly to Denny power
transmission line runs across
Dundreggan from north to south
and is in the process of being
upgraded, complete with
substantially taller pylons and
‘improved’ access roads. Then,
immediately to the east, a new
massive-scale wind farm is proposed
on the neighbouring estates,
consisting of up to 138 turbines,
each 135 metres tall, with some
turbines sited within 100 metres of
our boundary. The turbines from
another wind farm on the south side
of Glen Moriston already dominate
the skyline looking from
Dundreggan towards the Nevis
Range, so the estate is becoming a
focal point for two contradictory
futures for the Highlands – the
return of the land to a wilder, more
natural condition, or its further
domination and exploitation to
serve human economic interests.

Dundreggan is
a key site,
providing the
potential to
restore a
natural habitat
corridor of
woodland and
scrub
connecting
Glen Affric and
Glen Moriston,
and linking up
several
Caledonian
Forest
remnants

Despite its biological diversity and
high ecological interest, Dundreggan
has no statutory designations or
official protected status, and due to
its lack of any high peaks, the estate
attracts relatively few walkers and
other visitors. This provides a good

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Calum Macleod

Assessing the ‘community right to buy’
land and other assets
Dr Calum Macleod is
Deputy Director of the
Centre for Mountain
Studies based at Perth
College, University of
the Highlands and
Islands
Calum.macleod@perth.
uhi.ac.uk

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act
2003 is widely viewed as one of the
most significant pieces of legislation
passed by the Scottish Parliament
since devolution in 1999. It
introduced statutory access rights
over most land for ‘everyone’, and
the ‘community right to buy’ and
‘crofting community right to buy’
eligible land, salmon fishings and
mineral rights and other assets such
as buildings. Consequently, the Act
is often held up as an example of
progressive land reform designed to
diversify the pattern of land
ownership in Scotland. But to what
extent has the legislation done this
to date? And what are the barriers
which prevent these objectives
being achieved more widely in
practice?
Research on implementation of the
Land Reform Act conducted on
behalf of the Rural Affairs and
Environment Committee of the
Scottish Parliament by the Centre
for Mountain Studies and partners
presents a somewhat mixed picture
in relation to these fundamental
questions.
There is a popular misconception
that the community right to buy
provisions contained in Part Two of
the Land Reform Act have been
instrumental in securing many more
community land buy-outs than has
actually been the case. In fact,
many of the most high profile buyouts, such as those undertaken by
the North Harris Trust, Stòras
Uibhist and the Isle of Gigha
Heritage Trust, either pre-date the

legislation or took place outwith the
Act. According to Scottish
Government figures the reality is
that only nine community
organisations had successfully used
the legislation to purchase land and
assets as of 2010. These ranged
from the Assynt Foundation’s
purchase of the Glencanisp and
Drumrunie estates, encompassing
44,400 acres of land, to Neilston
Development Trust’s securing of the
former Clydesdale Bank premises in
the town centre.
For these organisations which have
successfully completed the process
the community right to buy has
undoubtedly been invaluable in
enabling them to put land and
associated assets to uses which
directly benefit the communities in
which they are located. However,
the relatively low number of
successful purchases using the Act
indicates that this right has not had
a significant directly transformative
impact upon the pattern of land
ownership in Scotland. A number
of factors combine to explain the
low completion rate of purchases in
this regard.
Perhaps the most important
explanation lies in the way in which
Part Two of the Land Reform Act is
designed in relation to facilitating
community ownership. The
legislation contains what some
would call ‘safeguards’ and others
‘obstacles’ which are intended to
shape the implementation process
in important respects.
Most critically, the ‘community right

2 0

to buy’ only gives eligible
‘community bodies’ a pre-emptive
right to purchase land when it is
placed on the market by a willing
seller. This is in contrast to the
‘crofting community right to buy’
contained in Part Three of the Act
which does not require a willing
seller and which is in some respects
akin to a compulsory purchase of
land. Consequently, organisations
using the community right to buy
have to navigate a complex and
highly bureaucratic process to
register their interest in land but
must then wait until the owner puts
that land on the market before they
can activate that interest and
proceed to purchase. For many of
these organisations this can be a
deeply frustrating experience,
leaving them neatly stacked like
aircraft in a holding formation
waiting for permission to land that
may never come.
Even successful activation of an
interest (effectively the ‘green light’
to proceed to purchase) is no
guarantee that a community
organisation will succeed in securing
the land. Nine community
organisations have activated their
interest only to see their attempts
to purchase flounder on a variety of
barriers. Six of these organisations
were unable to fund their purchases
within the timescale set out in the
legislation; one was competing with
another community organisation;
one wished to purchase ineligible
land and one had the activation
process terminated when the
landowner withdrew the land from
sale. Aside from the last-mentioned
organisation, all had their
registration deleted from the
Register of Community Interests in
Land.
Quite apart from the above, the

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sheer complexity of exercising the
‘community right to buy’ in practice
gives any community organisation
pause for thought when
contemplating whether to embark
on what many contributors to our
research characterised as an
exhausting and resource-intensive
process. Our findings highlight the
burden of work and demands on
volunteer time of using the Act;
issues which can be exacerbated
depending on the capacity and skills
set available to particular
organisations.
Other elements of the process can
also leave community organisations
mired in a bureaucratic quagmire
not of their own making.
Representatives of community
organisations who participated in
our research noted the difficulties of
meeting timescales and deadlines
associated with key stages of the
community right to buy process.
These included the challenge of
organising a community ballot
within 28 days of receiving an
independent valuation of the land to
be purchased and difficulties in
getting access to the full electoral
roll to determine eligibility to
participate in the ballot. Securing
funding to complete purchase
within a 6 month time-frame
following confirmation of the
community organisation’s intention
to proceed with purchase was also
viewed as unrealistic by some
participants. Some organisations
also experienced problems in setting
the geographical boundaries of the
community or in determining the
size of the community, although this
was not a universal finding.
Supporters of the community right
to buy argue that it has helped to
raise the profile of community land
ownership generally and research

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participants broadly concur with
that view. It’s more difficult to draw
any firm conclusions as to whether
the legislation has indirectly
stimulated greater activity in
relation to the community land
sector because of a lack of available
data in that regard.
Interestingly, one notable feature of
the community right to buy in
practice is that the majority of
successful purchases have resulted
from ‘late’ registrations of interest
in land, made after the land came
onto the market. Such late
registrations were anticipated by
the legislation’s architects as being
the exception rather than the norm.
However, their prominence suggests
that the Act has served a useful
‘buffer’ function by ensuring that
communities are afforded the
opportunity to purchase, subject to
meeting the stringent criteria of the
‘right to buy’ process, rather than
being by-passed by sellers intent on
avoiding the legislation being
invoked.

There is a
pressing need
to reignite the
political
momentum
which drove
the
community
land
movement in
the pre-Land
Reform Act era

The framework of statutory access
rights, community right to buy and
crofting community right to buy
contained in the Land Reform
(Scotland) Act 2003 has resulted in
the legislation being held up as a
touchstone for progressive land
reform. There’s a compelling
argument for that view in terms of
the access element of the Act.
However, the case for the
community right to buy is less clear
cut for the reasons outlined above.
In this context it is arguable that the
symbolic significance of the right
outweighs its practical utility.
That said, there is much that could
be done to reduce the
administrative complexity
associated with the provisions
contained in Part Two of the Act to
make them a more palatable option
for community organisations to use.
Increasing the flexibility of what

2 2

constitutes eligible ‘community
bodies’, simplifying ballot
arrangements, recasting timeframes associated with the process
in favour of community
organisations and reducing the
burden of mapping requirements
have all been suggested by
participants in our study as helpful
changes to the legislation.
Ultimately the Land Reform Act is
only one piece of a complex jigsaw
in relation to community land
ownership in Scotland. There
remains much to celebrate in terms
of what has already been achieved
through community ownership
throughout the Highlands and
Islands. Moreover, the creation of
Community Land Scotland as an
umbrella body for the sector is a
significant and very welcome
development, both for sharing good
practice and advice amongst
community organisations and
gathering and amplifying the views
of the sector to Government and
other stakeholders.
However, there is a pressing need to
reignite the political momentum
which drove the community land
movement in the pre-Land Reform
Act era and led to the establishing of
the Community Land Unit within
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
and the now defunct Scottish Land
Fund. The newly re-elected SNP
Government has made manifesto
commitments to review the Land
Reform Act and re-instate the
Scottish Land Fund. Now is the time
to follow through on these
commitments to show that it is
serious about securing the benefits
that shared ownership of land and
other assets can bring to
communities.

George Charles

Obfuscating fog, searing clarity and
Bogha-Cloiche

The sky was a symphony of grey; the
earth devoid of all colour. The night
had been mild and dry and I had
been surprised upon opening my
eyes to find daylight already established. A warming bowl of porridge
after a night in the heather is one of
the more oddly neglected Scottish
traditions these days, but it still
satisfies. Once charged up, I began
the soft snow trudge, before finding
wonderfully hard neve, high up on
the slopes of Meall Chuaich...
Much has been written of the
'healing' qualities of wild land. It's
not a term I'm entirely comfortable
with as it doesn't fit easily with my
image of myself or my relationship
with wild land. The truth of it, however, cannot be denied. I'm much
more comfortable focusing on the
pull factors which draw me to wild
land, when the truth is that the push
factors may be just as important.
Am I simply a social misfit, a loner
and luddite, who goes to the hills to
escape from a modern world with
which I am unable to cope? And
what is it I get from wild land? A
greater sense of perspective and
feeling of permanence or rootedness must surely have a calming influence in themselves. I wouldn't be
surprised if this sense of 'healing'
was directly proportional (to some
extent) to a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sensitivity to
wild land. But what does this say
about the wild land experience itself? Where does the desire to embrace nature and wildness end and
the need to escape an antiseptic and
unfulfilling modern existence begin?

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Bogha-Cloiche came easy in the end.
The wind-blown plateau provided
easy going after the steep ascent.
Patches of blue sky were appearing
over the Monadhliath and around
the Moray coast to the north. The
'Gorms west of the Feshie remained
stubbornly in the cloud. All around
lay an expanse of winter; of bleak,
vast... wild.
A couple of weeks previously had
found me wandering Carn Bhac on a
moonlit night of pure ecstasy. Although little snow lay below 800m
the moonlight glinting up the Connie
was more than sufficient to guide
the way onto the well consolidated
upper slopes. From here, an array of
pin sharp, snow topped plateaux
could be seen on all points of the
compass, broken only by the great
trench of the Dee and Geldie. If this
was healing, it was total; and it was
heady stuff. The feeling was one of
immutability; strength had been
drawn from somewhere and the
resonance ran deep.

An array of pin
sharp, snow
topped
plateaux could
be seen on all
points of the
compass,
broken only by
the great
trench of the
Dee and Geldie

Tired now, I headed down the glen
in the warmth of the afternoon sun.
Below the snow line the muted winter colours seemed a riot compared
with the austerity of the upper
slopes. Despite the tarmac road and
what must be some of the ugliest
estate buildings in Scotland, Glen
Tromie provided a fine long walk
out. An easing down from the wild
upper glen into a more wooded and
finally more pastoral landscape.
The wild land experience is just that;
an experience that needs to be felt

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and desired first hand. Knowledge is
gained, but how to define or communicate that is a tricky business.
The desire seems to come from inside; I've never known of anyone
truly persuaded of the importance
of wild land by cold, rational argument. It's easy to feel the situation
is one of 'us and them', of those
who 'get it' and those who don't.
How to work around these differences and how to recognise common ground where it exists are crucial to all the functions of the SWLG.

Photo: C Brown

2 4

Roderick Manson

Rum and Irvine Butterfield

Lest the above heading give rise to
any misapprehensions, I should
probably point out that, both by
employment and by inclination,
Irvine was very much a whisky man.
His books will undoubtedly be
familiar to SWLG members,
particularly “The High Mountains of
Britain and Ireland, Volume 1” and
“The Magic of the Munros”.
Likewise, the valuable work he did
on behalf of many mountaineering
and wild land organisations is too
well known to require extensive
elucidation (I hope).

got in touch with David Robertson,
the Mountain Bothies Association
Maintenance Organiser for Dibidil,
and while it was clear that Dibidil
was out as a potential location for
the stone (that pesky wild land
prohibition again), Kinloch, where
the Easter 1970 party transporting
the shedloads of materials spent a
saturated few days, was not.
Richard Kilpatrick, the Scottish
Natural Heritage warden, was
contacted and proved an
enthusiastic and very helpful
confederate in the venture.

This particular story starts about six
months after Irvine died on May 12th
2009. Bruce Walker, a Kirriemuir
sculptor/engraver with a formidable
reputation, contacted the Munro
Society with the proposal of erecting
at his own expense an engraved
memorial stone for Irvine. He was
passed on to Irvine’s executor
which, as that was me, was where I
came in.

Meanwhile, David had a bright idea.
“Dibidil – A Hebridean Adventure”
had been out of print for nearly
forty years and copies, when they
surfaced, would not cost below £50
for a copy in good condition. Why
not re-publish it? If I’d realised then
that the typing alone would take
over forty hours between us (the
original was pre-digital publishing
and computer back-up), I could have
told him why not. So we got the
necessary permissions from Irvine’s
sister Irene and his partner Moira
and, blithely unaware of the scale of
the task ahead, off we went.

Irvine’s ashes were scattered on a
small promontory on the west shore
of Loch Clair by the view looking
towards Liathach that was always
his favourite. The proposal to erect
the stone there was a non-starter –
Irvine had strong views on the
subject of the proliferation of
memorials on wild land and his
executor’s are, if anything, even
more incendiary.
Finding a suitable site proved to be a
tricky task. There were many places
Irvine was known to be fond of but
none really stood out until I re-read
his first book. This was a privately
published account of the restoration
of Dibidil bothy on Rum in 1970. I
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Once we’d got the text processed
and added a few appendices relating
to a later 1975 work party, the
history of Dibidil and another ten
verses of “The Dibidil Song” (does
anyone out there know the tune?),
we had the problem of pictures to
address. Fortunately, Irvine had left
his slides of the work party to the
MBA who had scanned them on to
disc so the pictures are now in
colour, bar one which we couldn’t
trace. The full set can be viewed on
the MBA website (look under

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BO O KS

“Information”, then “General News”
and select “2010” – you’ll find them
at the bottom of the blurb on the
release of the book on 21/9/10).
David and me can type (slowly and
inaccurately) and we can proof-read
(interminably, or so it seemed) but
we had not a clue as to how to set a
book for publication. Enter Halifaxdenizen John Mitchell, who did a
fine job of setting the book for us,
and I had the final proofs to peruse
at the beginning of September 2010,
just in time for my trip to Rum with
Bruce to install the stone.
As usual for visits to Rum, I spent
the Friday night curled up on the
back seat of my car in Mallaig’s west
car park and met Bruce at the
Calmac office to catch the 0730

2 6

ferry, with Calmac’s fine selection of
bacon butties to savour. Richard
met us on landing and provided us
with the sand and concrete we
needed to install the stone at a site
just above the new pier, on the edge
of the settlement area. There is a
new track heading east from the
pier to two ruined Clearance villages
and an otter hide, and the stone was
erected by three log seats with
views all around which Irvine would
have known and loved.
The installation was a taxing
process. Not so much for me, as my
role was generally limited to
fetching and carrying due to my
legendary uselessness in this field.
Bruce on the other hand suffered
torments familiar to those whose
skulls have been overrun by Rum

midges. We retreated to the pier in
disarray a couple of times but
eventually the stone went in to
Bruce’s satisfaction. It’s a simple
three-foot high piece of Caithness
sandstone (very durable, unlike the
Arran sandstone of Kinloch Castle).
On one side is Irvine’s name and
dates; on the other is the quote
from William Blake which he would
use in book-signings,
“Great things are done when men
and mountains meet,
This is not done by jostling in the
street”.
Naturally, we had to visit Dibidil the
next day and Bruce marked the
occasion by finding the only patch of
bog on the entire six-mile trek and
falling in it, a feat made all the more

remarkable when he replicated it on
the way back. There were seaeagles circling as we looked down to
the bothy and we spent a while
there just relating the landscape to
the book’s tale of that incredible
restoration project.
Back on the mainland, the book was
officially launched at the MBA AGM
in Greenhead in October and I do
feel that it is now the book as it
always could have been had the
technology or the money been there
in 1972. Copies are available from
33 Cedar Avenue, Blairgowrie, PH10
6TT. Cheques for £8.00 (including
postage and packing) should be
made payable to “Roderick
Manson”. Profits will go to the MBA
just as soon as we make any.

Photo:The bothy at Dibidil
C Brown

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Phil Turner

My wild land

Phil is an Edinburghbased outdoors writer
specialising in
lightweight backpacking
and long distance
walking. He particularly
enjoys exploring the
areas neglected by the
summit-obsessed
masses, and is
frequently found
tracing ancient drove
roads and stretches of
deserted coastline. The
best of these routes are
to be published in
several guidebooks as
well as featuring on
http://
www.walkhighlands.co.
uk (but not the VERY
best routes – they’re
secret).
Phil runs a successful
blog at http://
lightweightoutdoors.co
m and has an active
following on his Twitter
feed at:
http://twitter.com/
PhilOutdoors

When walking with my usual
walking companions, routes fall into
two distinct categories – normal
routes and Ibbotson routes.
Personally, I respect the forethought
and ingenuity of our ancestors who
forged paths through mountain
passes and along sensible contour
lines taking the path of least
resistance. It’s true that these
pioneers were more concerned with
the transport of heavy goods and
cattle than the needs of future
hillwalkers, but it seems awfully
disrespectful to ignore their efforts
in favour of Colin’s ‘straight-line’
approach to route-finding.
The truth is that like many walkers
my time in Scotland’s wild places is
limited by those annoyances that
make an escape to the hills all the
more essential – the need to earn
money, interact with family
members, smile at people and
pretend to be interested in TV
programmes or celebrity culture. It’s
admirable to spend a day struggling
through stinking black peat bog to
reach a distant summit that features
on an arcane tick-list found on an
Internet forum, but still being able
to see your parked car being
molested by an amorous highland
bullock takes the shine off things
slightly.
No, I prefer wild-paths, and the
longer the better. Not the wide
surfaced estate roads created to
ferry shooting parties into the hills
in air-conditioned 4x4s, but the cowwide paths that lead to nowhere via
several fords, a stagnant pond and a
ruined sheep fank. These are the
routes that nobody treads any

2 8

more, maintained by the wise deer
that also appreciate the worth of a
good path. Often there’s a reason
for this apparent neglect – the path
ends abruptly at the bottom of a
sheer cliff (damn climbers), at an
unscalable deer fence (damn deer)
or simply performs a wide curve
through farmland and deposits you
a few miles further down the road
(damn).
There are of course ways to avoid
this - the unadventurous will use a
map, the clever will use free online
satellite imagery. Whilst I generally
prefer not to publicise this, I feel it’s
time to come clean and admit that I
have a Google Maps addiction.
Forget the paper 1:50000 maps with
their contour lines and stuff, http://
maps.google.co.uk/ is the
destination for proper wild-path
exploration. Spend the evening idly
scrolling around in Satellite view
until a suitably road-free section
appears, ideally with an interesting
feature like a ruined sheep fank in
the middle, and zoom in. Pan
around, find a suitable path and
follow it to the nearest road. Then
go there. Unless you’ve somehow
ended up near Cumbernauld – don’t
go there.
If it’s brilliant, keep it to yourself, if
it’s rubbish, keep it to yourself –
why spoil the surprise for the next
wild-path seeker? Unless it’s really
bad (and you’ve ended up in
Cumbernauld), I guarantee it’ll be
better than joining the back of the
procession trudging up Ben Lomond
over the May Bank Holiday
weekend. Trust me.

Volunteer for Scottish Wild Land

Can you spare some time to work with the Scottish Wild Land
Group? We are always on the lookout for people to help
with running the group, campaigning, and the production of
Wild Land News.

We also welcome articles, letters and

photographs for publication. If you are interested in getting
involved,

This supersedes any existing order in favour of SWLG.
Signed: ................................................................................................................................ Date: .............................................
FOR BANK USE: Payee sort code: 83-15-18 account: 00257494
I wish to pay by cheque. (Please make payable to “SWLG” and send it along with this form)
Yes, please keep me posted about volunteering opportunities with SWLG.
I am particularly interested in: ...........................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................................................
Yes, I would like to receive free quarterly copies of Wild Land News.

Gift Aid Declaration – tax payers please sign
If you pay UK income tax, you can increase the value of your subscription to the group by completing a gift aid
declaration. Signing this does not cost you anything. If you pay tax at the higher rate, you can claim higher rate relief for
your subscription on your own tax return. You can cancel this declaration at any time.
I want the Scottish Wild Land Group to treat all subscriptions and donations I make from the date of this
declaration until further notice as Gift Aid donations.